Cloth article provided with test tab

ABSTRACT

An article includes a panel of material, e.g., textile fabric or plastic, having a tab projecting from one edge of the panel, the edge forming part of a seam of the article so that the tab projects from the seam. The panel and tab are a single piece of material. The article may be a garment and the tab may project into the interior of the garment. The tab may be removed when desired to serve as a specimen for testing some characteristic of the article material. The length and width dimensions of the tab are at least as large as those required by generally accepted standards for testing flame resistance of cloth.

United States Patent Saddler [451 Oct. 17, 1972 1 CLOTH ARTICLE PROVIDED WITH 2,669,722 2/1954 Godshall ..2/1 1 1 TEST TAB 2,941,577 6/1960 Roseman ..2/275 X 3 026,225 3/1962 Ostby ..2/275 X [72] Inventor. Rupen L. Saddler, 161 Churchill Road, Tenafly NJ. 07 70 3,170,250 2/1965 SCl'lOll ..36/44 3,317,922 5/1967 Artzt ..2/111 [22] Filed: April 8, 1971 21 APPL 2 75 7 Primary Examiner-Alfred R. Guest Attorney--Breitenfeld & Levine Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 18,387, Feb. [57] ABSTRACT 261 1970- An article includes a panel of material, e.g., textile fabric or plastic, having a tab projecting from one U-S- Cl. R edge of the panel the edge forming part of a seam of [51] Int. Cl. ..A4ld the i l o that the tab projects from the seam. The [58] held of Search 243 panel and tab are a single piece of material. The arti- 2/275 1 106 cle may be a garment and the tab may project into the interior of the garment. The tab may be removed [56] References cued when desired to serve as a specimen for testing some UNITED STATES PATENTS characteristieof the article material. The length and width dimensions of the tab are at least as large as 1,696,559 12/1928 Ward ..2/111 those required by generally accepted standards f 2,331,079 10/1943 Pearl ..2/74 testing flame resistance of cloth. 2,511,809 6/1950 Ryan ..2/111 2,636,181 4/1953 Becker ..2/243 A X 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDom 11 1912 YINVENTOR:

RUPE/V A. S/4DD ER TTORNEYS I CLOTH ARTICLE PROVIDED WITH TEST TAB This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 18,387, filed Feb. 26, 1970.

This invention relates to cloth articles, and more particularly to articles provided with means for allowing the material from which the article is formed to be destructively tested without injuring the article.

It is often desirable to test some property of the material of which a cloth article is formed, but often such testing runs the risk that the article will be ruined. Examples of properties about which information may be needed are flame-resistance, dye-fastness when washed, acceptability of a dye, tear strength, and acidity. Obviously, if an attempt is made to burn a cloth article to test its flame-resistance, the article will be so marred, even if its material does not burn, as to make the article useless. Similarly, if it is desired to wash or dye a cloth article, it is difficult to determine before carrying out the washing or dyeing procedure whether or not it will be successful.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid this problem by permitting a sample of the very material of which the article is formed to be tested without in any way endangering the article.

An important object of the invention is to permit the material of a cloth article to be tested for flame resistance without marring the article.

The manner in which these and other objects are achieved will be seen from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a simplified face view of a panel of material which will be used to fabricate a cloth article, in this case a garment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a garmentincluding the panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a face view of the garment of FIG. 2 turned inside out; I

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on'line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a face view of a portion of a panel of material which will be used to fabricate another cloth article, in this case a bed sheet;

FIG. 6 is a back view of a portion of the finished bed sheet; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken onv line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

The cloth article chosen to illustrate the present invention, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is a garment 10 including the panel 11 shown in FIG. 1. Although the illustrative garment is a childs dress, it is to be understood that the invention applies to all types of garments, as well as to all types of cloth articles. Panel 11 may be formed of any material of which garments are formed, such as textile material, or plastic sheet materia]. Thus, in the present specification and the claims which follow, the term cloth is intended to include within its scope not only woven, knitted, non-woven, and felted materials, but also sheet materials of which articles, with which the invention is useful, may be made.

Projecting from each edge 12 of panel 11 is a tab 13 integral with the panel. In the present specification, and the claims which follow, the'term integral is used to mean that panel 11 and tab 13 are portions of a single piece of material. In the usual case, panel 11 and tab 13 will be cut as a single piece from a largerpiece of material.

In fabricating garment 10, the edges of panel 11 except its bottom edge 14 and top edge 15, are joined to the corresponding edges of another panel along seams 17. This joinder may be by sewing, as indicated at 18 in FIG. 4, or by heat sealing, or by any other suitable means. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the presence of tab 13 does not interfere with formation of seams 17, and in the finished garment the tab projects from the seam.

The tab could project outwardly of the garment, but preferably it projects into the garment, as shown, at a point spaced from all finished edges of the garment, so as to be totally unobtrusive. In this way, the garment can be worn without removing the tab. If desired, specimens of the trimmings used on the garment may be attached to a tab 13 for testing simultaneously with or separately from the tab.

If the test to be made is for flame-resistance, a tab 13 is cut from the garment 10 along line 19 before the garment is even'worn. An attempt is then made to burn the tab, and if it does not continue to burn, after the flame is removed, i.e., if the tab does not sustainflame, the garment can be safely worn. After a certain number of washings and/or applications of chemicals or gases encountered by the garment in use, another tab 13 can be removed for flame-resistance testing to determine if the garment can still be worn safely. The fact that the tab is ruined as a result of the test has no effect whatsoever on the garment. Furthermore, since tab 13 is part of the same piece as panel 11, the reaction of tab 13 to the test accurately reflects the reaction of the entire panel 11. This would not necessarily be so if tab 13 were cut from some other area of the material from which panel 11 is cut, or from a different bolt of material.

The United States government has promulgated test method standards for testing the flame resistance of cloth. Examples of these standards are Federal Test Method Standard No. 19 l Method 5900 for testing Flame Resistance of Cloth; Horizontal" and Method 5903 for testing Flame Resistance of Cloth; Vertical. These standards set forth the size of the specimen to be used for the test. In Method 5900, the specimen .size is 7 inches by 10 inches, and in Method 5903 the specimen size is 2-94 inches by l2 inches. Thus, it is critically important for purposes of the present invention that each tab 13 be large enough to perform a flame-resistance test according to generally accepted standards. While testing standards are subject to change, from experience it isbelieved that no adequate flame-resistance test can be made on specimens shorter than about 6 inches or narrower than about 2 inches.

Therefore, each tab 13 is at least about 6 inches long at least about 2 inches wide.

If desired, where a'garment is formed of more than one panel and/or more than one material, each panel and/or material forming part of the garment may be furnished with a tab or tabs similar to tabs 13. Also, each tab may be large enough so that only a portion is removed to test for flame-resistance, leaving a remaining portion or portions for use at a later time to test some other characteristic or characteristics of the material. Although the drawings show panel 11 having" two tabs 13, in any particular case only one tab or more than two tabs may be furnished.

The term seam as used herein is not limited to lines along which two material edges are joined, but is intended to include within its scope lines along which a material edge is secured to the material panel of which it forms a part, such as is the case when a garment is provided witha hem 16 secured by a seam 20. For example, hem 16 may be provided with a tab 26. To prevent tab 26 from hanging down beneath the hem, its free upper edge may be attached in a temporary manner, such as by a single stitch, to the inner surface of the garment.

The present invention finds utility with a wide variety of cloth articles in addition to garments. For example, test tabs may be incorporated into bed sheets, pillow cases, curtains, draperies, slip covers, blankets, bedspreads, mattress ticking, mattress covers, wall coverings, and floor coverings. An example of these items is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of a cloth panel 21, adjacent to one edge 22 of the panel. Projecting from the edge 22 is a tab 23 integral with the panel 21. In making a bed sheet, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the margin of the panel 21 along edge 22 is folded upon itself, and stitched along seam 24 to produce a finished edge or hem 25. The tab 23, of course, projects from seam 24, and may be removed when desired to test some characteristic, such as flame-resistance, of the material of which the sheet is made. Obviously, more than one tab 23 may be furnished.

The invention has been shown and described in preferred form only, and by way of example, and many variations may be made in the invention which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are included in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A finished cloth article comprising at least one panel of material having an edge, said edge being 5 joined to some material to form a seam of the article,

and a tab integral with said panel projecting from said edge, and hence from said article seam, said tab and said panel being portions of the same single piece of material, and said tab having length and width dimensions at least as large as those required by generally accepted standards for testing flame resistance of cloth, said tab being severable from said panel, without altering the appearance, value, or function of the article, for use as a specimen to test some characteristic of the material from which the article is made.

2. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said tab is at least about 6 inches long and at least about 2 inches wide.

3. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said panel and said tab are originally cut out together as a single piece from a larger piece of material.

4. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said tab is spaced from all finished edges of the article.

5. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said material is a textile fabric, and said seam is formed by sewing two material edges together.

6. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said material is a plastic, and said seam is formed by heat sealing two material edges together.

7.An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said arti- 8 r% ai i i ei as defined in claim 6 wherein said tab projects into the interior of the garment so that the tab is concealed should the garment be worn before removal of the tab. 

1. A finished cloth article comprising at least one panel of material having an edge, said edge being joined to some material to form a seam of the article, and a tab integral with said panel projecting from said edge, and hence from said article seam, said tab and said panel being portions of the same single piece of material, and said tab having length and width dimensions at least as large as those required by generally accepted standards for testing flame resistance of cloth, said tab being severable from said panel, without altering the appearance, value, or function of the article, for use as a specimen to test some characteristic of the material from which the article is made.
 2. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said tab is at least about 6 inches long and at least about 2 inches wide.
 3. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said panel and said tab are originally cut out together as a single piece from a larger piece of material.
 4. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said tab is spaced from all finished edges of the article.
 5. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said material is a textile fabric, and said seam is formed by sewing two material edges together.
 6. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said material is a plastic, and said seam is formed by heat sealing two material edges together.
 7. An article as defined in claim 1 wherein said article is a garment.
 8. An article as defined in claim 6 wherein said tab projects into the interior of the garment so that the tab is concealed should the garment be worn before removal of the tab. 